Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1887-02-10
COVENANT WITH ABRAM.
NOTES ON THE INTERNATIONAL
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON.

For Sunday, Feb. 13-Lesson Text, Gen.
", 5-1s-Golden Text, Gen. Nv, L.
Critical and Practical Notes by Samuel
Ives Curtiss, Phi. D., ID. D., of Chicago.
Introduction had promised Abram
that lie should become great nation; that
He would make his seed as the dust Of the
earth, and that He would give him the land
of Canaan. AS yet there was no fulfllment
Of either promise Abram had no son, he
did not own foot of land compare Acts vii.
s., and the years were slipping fast away. 1t
Is for this reason that God appears to him in
q vision and comforts him with the aSsur-
ance that He is his shield and that his reward
shall be exceeding great" trevised edition,
margin). Abram at once thinks Of an in
crease of his possessions, and asks God why
He should give him anything more when he
has no child. God therefore renews the
promise that be shall have son.
THE LESSON.
His Posterity Like the Stars ". 5.-He
then leads him out and bids him look toward
heaven, and count, if he is able, the stars,
which are sparkling with all the brilliancy Of
an Oriental sky. What an inspiring simile!
His seed was to be as numerous the stars,
and many of them were TO shine as the stars
until they should pale before the brightness
of the star of Bethlehem. Compare Mum.
xiv, IL and Rev. xxi, 16)
Justification by Faith ". 6.-This verse re-
cords two great facts: l. Abram believed in
Jehovah; q Jehovah counted or reckoned it
to him as righteousness. Abrams life, as we
shall see, was one grand example OF faith.
He left his fathers house because ne believed
in jehovah At the most trying periods of
his career, when other mems faith would have
failed, his triumphed. Abram did not have
Gods written word; but be followed Gods
will, as far as he knew it, closely. Whatever
might be his failings, he had the spirit of
obedience In this particular instance he be-
Ieved Jehovah's promise that he should have
a son. God accepted his faith as righteous
ness, that is, right living. But Abrams faith
and works went together James ii, 21-25).
He did the things which Jehovah commanded
because he believed in Jehovah. He was
feeding, as the Psalmist says, on faithfulness,
and was one of the just, described by the
prophet, who live by faith. His life fur
nishes the illustration of the apostolic doctrine
of justification by faith Rom i, II; iv, 3;
Gal. iii, 6; Heb. K, So, which became the key
note of the German Reformation.
The Sign of the Covenant Tvs. z, Sal
tho11gh he believes that he is to have son, he
is still in doubt about the land. But God tells
him that he has brought him out of Ur of the
Chaldees to give him the land. Abram asks
a sign. God condescends to give it to him, as
he afterward condescended to give signs to
Gideon Judges vi, II, 96-40, Hezekiah Oh
Kings xx, SID and even to Ahaz isaiah vii,
11-1A.
VS.. 9, 10 The sign which God gave Abram
was q covenant. In commercial language 1t
was a contract that he entered into with him.
1t was as though two people should make
deposit of large amount OF money, to be
held by some trustworthy person, and should
agree by written contract, properly signed
and sealed before notary, that in case either
Of them should fail to fulfill the conditions of
the agreement he would forfeit the sum Of
money to the other.
Life. however, is more precious than money.
In this covenant Jehovah condescends to
stand ON eolal terms with Abram, and thus
really promises, as II be were man, that II
he does not fulfil the conditions OF the cove
nant he will forfeit his life compare Jeremiah
xxxiv, H. 1920. Covenant In Hebrew sig
uifies something that is cut. The Hebrews
speak of cutting a covenant where we speak
of making a covenant. Abram was to pre-
pare the preliminaries. BE was to take
heifer. she goat and lamb, each years
of age. and was to divide them into two equal
parts, putting one-haf on one side and the
other half on the other, leaving room to walk
between the parts. He also took turtle
dove and young pigeon, but he did not d.
vide them The contract by which the land
of Canaan was to be conveyed to Abram, as
we might say, was ready to be signed and
sealed, but before this takes place he must
understand its provisions
Conditions of the Covenant Tvs. 11-16).-
These are indicated in the following verses
Naturally, but fittingly, the birds OF prey,
who foreshadow what is to be revealed to
him, light upon the carcasses, and he drives
them away: As the sun is going down a
deep sleep falls upon Abram. 1t is the same
kind of sleep that Adam is said to have slept
when Eve was created. The birds Of prey,
which may be regarded as q symbol of evil,
are followed by the horror of great dark
ness. Through these natural portents his
mind is prepared for the unwelcome an
nouncement regarding his posterity. His
seed is to be a stranger in land that IS not
theirs. They are to serve the owners OF that
land, who will Cypress them 400 years. But
on that nation God VIII visit sore Judg-
ments.
Afterward Abrams descendants are to
come out with great possessions. Abram IS
to 90 to his fathers in peace. In this passage
there Is an intimation Of existence after
death. He is to enjoy the greatest Of tenn
poral blessings, according to the Old Testa-
ment-namely, that of long life (Ex. Xxx, u;
Prov. iii, 2; Isa- XIV, 20); he Is to be buried
in a good old age. In the fourth generation,
or in 400 years, reckoning the word genera
tion in its widest significance Of 100 years, his
children are to return to Canaan. Four hun
;ee Nlxy V
act number being 43O years (Ex- xii, 40-1;
compare Gal iii, II. One thing is men
toned which stands in the way Of Abrams
immediate possession of the land-the in-
iouity of the Amorite is not full This is sig
nificant language. God is slow in executing
his judgments. He does not sweep man from
the earth through the flood until it is full OF |
violence. Punishment visited by him cannot
be fastened by day, nor can 1t be delayed
when once the hour has struck Thus the
provisions of the covenant are made clear to
Abram.
The Covenant Sealed ". 17.-The covenant
OF Jehovah with Abram, speaking of it as
though it were a contract, was now ready to
be signed This was done by a smoking fur
mace and flaming torch, which were sym
bols of the divine presence passing between
the pieces.
v. Is In this verse the substance Oh tne
covenant is announced, as well as the fact
that God signed it. He gave Abram the
land from the river Of Egypt-by which we
are not to understand the Nile, but the Wady 4
Ell Arish, which divides the base Of the Sinaitic
peninsula into two parts-to the great river
the Euphrates. It was the fault of Abrams
heirs that they did not enter into possession
Of this domain until the time Of Solomon q
Kings iv, 2D.
POINTS TO BE REMEMBERED
l. God accepted Abrams faith in him as
Righteousness.
2. Abrams faith was manifested by his
obedience 10 Gods commands.
8 We honor God when we believe what he
has said.
l. God has covenanted to save the soul that
believes in Jesus, and to bring it to the heav-
emily Canaan.
s. II we enter into covenant with God,
there can be no failure on his part 1t is inn
possible for him to lie Heb vi. 1918.